Where to Start: My First 30 Days in a New Role

Here I am sitting in my office as I begin to write this blog and I catch myself asking “Where to start?” the minute I open the Word document. I can’t help but think how ironic it is considering that question has been extremely common these days.  

I recently accepted a new position after 3 great years at my previous University. Transitioning into a new job happens incredibly fast in college athletics. I literally feel like I was picked up out of Winston-Salem, NC and dropped in Clemson, SC in the blink of an eye. When transitioning into a  new role, you hardly have the time to process what is happening, not to mention the time to prepare for this new journey.  

As I wrap up the first month in my new role at Clemson, I want to share how I navigated the first 30 days of starting a new job and how I answered the reoccurring question,

“Where to  start?” 

Okay, so let’s take it back to when this question appeared first. It’s May 17^th and I call my head coach to accept the job as Director of Strength and Conditioning for Women’s Basketball at  Clemson. LET’S GOOOOOOOO! I am FIRED UP.  

Click, I hang up the phone…and BOOM. There it is. “Where do I start?”  

I would be lying if I didn’t admit that I actually knew EXACTLY where to start…. On Stockx to see what Jordan’s come in purple and orange colorways.  

Once I completed that immediate priority, that question instantaneously reappeared in my head, and I started to feel a wave of stress come over me. 

“When do I tell my current head coach?”  

“How do I tell my players?” 

“How am I going to break my lease?”  

“When am I going to have time to find a place to live?” 

These are just a few of the questions that compiled in my head over the next 24 hours. I went from super excited, to feeling sick to my stomach about telling my current athletes, to very nervous, and then back to looking at purple and orange Jordan's again... 

So, I figured out a pretty awesome life hack to answer all of these questions and it is something I continued to use every time this question came up over the past 30 days.  

It isn’t always as simple as it may seem, and it takes a lot of deliberate practice.  The life hack is... BE YOU. 

Rather than asking yourself “Where to start?”, try asking yourself these two questions instead:

1. Who are you? 
2. What do you value most?

Who am I? I am a badass, I am vulnerable and wear my emotions on my sleeve, I own way too many pairs of sneakers, I am a leader and mentor. I am a former athlete and competitor.  

What do I, Jena Ready, value the most? I value relationships, I value vulnerability and authenticity.  

So how do I practically apply this? 

I don’t rehearse what I am going to say to my head coach or team. I call them and talk to them like I did with my family because that is the type of relationship I have with them. I am vulnerable and honest with why I made this decision, I show my emotions and don’t hide from them. 

I also buy my first pair of purple and orange Jordans. 

BOOM. It’s June 3^rd. I am sitting at my desk in Clemson, SC.  

Yep, you guessed it. That damn question pops up as I sit down and stare at a completely empty office and desk. 

Where do I start? 

I remembered the life hack. Who am I? What do I value most? 

I value relationships. My ability to create relationships with our staff, players, and administration is what made me successful in all my previous roles and it is exactly how I got right where I am right now. 

How did I practically apply this?  

I realized me sitting in this office chair worrying about designing programs or setting up excel sheets isn’t going to help me create the relationships I want with any of our staff or players.  Instead, I got up and went to the practice court and offered to rebound for one of our players I saw when I was walking into my office earlier.  

I know how to design a training program and could do it in my sleep, but I don’t know this athlete shooting on the practice court. Prioritizing what actually matters and most needs your attention is a great place to start.  

Speaking of, here is another life hack- want to find an easy way to connect and talk to your athletes? Rebound. The excel sheets can wait.  

Fast forward to a semi-less empty office, it’s now June 26^th  and the entire team is officially on campus. I am planning our summer program and preparing for our first team lift. 

BOOOOM AGAIN. There it is. 

“Where to start?”  

“What am I going to say?” 

“What rules or policies will I have?” 

Life hack enters the chat. 

Who am I? What do I value most? 

I am a former student-athlete and competitor. I am a leader and mentor.  I value consistent, foundational, and measurable training. I value high attention to detail and energy during training sessions. I value creating an environment that athletes want to be a part of and come back to.  

How did I practically apply this? 

I did some “reverse engineering” and thought about what I wanted a training session to look like in September, October, November, and all the way through March when we are in the final four training with the top-of-the-line equipment provided by the NCAA provided (Yep, still mad about that). I put together a training program that will help us get to that vision.  I wrote out my non-negotiables and specific examples of how these will be applied in the weight room so I can clearly communicate the environment we want to create in each training session. I kept it concise and only allowed myself to have 5 non-negotiables max. I didn’t write out every single “rule”. I wrote out what type of training and what type of environment we want to establish and what behaviors will allow us to accomplish that.  

One last big BOOOM! It’s July 1^st. I am wearing my purple Jordans from Stockx. The team is standing in front of me, waiting to begin our first team lift.  

Where to start? 

EASY.  

Who am I? What do I value most?